Disclaimer
These notes were made using the following textbook:
Baumeister, R. F., Bushman, B. J., Ally, Y., de Sousa, D., Dhlomo-Sibiya, R.
M., Hermann, C., Mbatha, K., Nienaber, A., Schwär, G., Shirinda-
Mthombeni, K., and Silinda, F. (2018). Social Psychology: South Africa (1st
Edition). Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781473751415.
, Chapter 8: social influence and persuasion
Introduction:
• Consider how fast the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital was built.
Mandela’s vision for the hospital helped ensure that people and
companies donated funds to turn the vision into a reality
• The case of Terence Kelly/Khalid Terry also shows how an idea can
influence an individual
Two types of social influence:
• Normative influence: being liked and accepted
o Going along with the crowd
o Solomon Asch: group acceptance is more important than
being correct
• Informational influence: being correct
o Muzafer Sherif: informational influence. Going along with the
crowd because you think they know more than you
• Normative social influence is primarily driven by the need for
acceptance and belonging in to social groups. People also go along
with the crowds in order to be liked and therefore included.
• A study by Asch shows that people would rather be wrong and
accepted, than right and rejected. Although this study is based on
group dynamics, the same is also observable in some interpersonal
relationships where ‘not seeking to be right’ is idealised as an
effective conflict resolution strategy.
2
These notes were made using the following textbook:
Baumeister, R. F., Bushman, B. J., Ally, Y., de Sousa, D., Dhlomo-Sibiya, R.
M., Hermann, C., Mbatha, K., Nienaber, A., Schwär, G., Shirinda-
Mthombeni, K., and Silinda, F. (2018). Social Psychology: South Africa (1st
Edition). Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781473751415.
, Chapter 8: social influence and persuasion
Introduction:
• Consider how fast the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital was built.
Mandela’s vision for the hospital helped ensure that people and
companies donated funds to turn the vision into a reality
• The case of Terence Kelly/Khalid Terry also shows how an idea can
influence an individual
Two types of social influence:
• Normative influence: being liked and accepted
o Going along with the crowd
o Solomon Asch: group acceptance is more important than
being correct
• Informational influence: being correct
o Muzafer Sherif: informational influence. Going along with the
crowd because you think they know more than you
• Normative social influence is primarily driven by the need for
acceptance and belonging in to social groups. People also go along
with the crowds in order to be liked and therefore included.
• A study by Asch shows that people would rather be wrong and
accepted, than right and rejected. Although this study is based on
group dynamics, the same is also observable in some interpersonal
relationships where ‘not seeking to be right’ is idealised as an
effective conflict resolution strategy.
2
